D&D 5E The Domains of Dread, listed by the power of their Dark Lord (using their CR)

[Urriak Uruk]

Now, I noticed a common complaint with the Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft as it seems like it could be difficult to build an entire campaign within the Domains of Dread. Specifically, that most of the challenges seem fit for low-level or mid-level campaigns.

Well, I've now looked over a good chunk of the book, and although I agree with the above, I thought it would be an interesting experiment to list out the Domains, in order from the weakest Dark Lords to the strongest. This is not a ranking of the characters themselves, as I think some through guile and influence can make a tougher opponent than a simple statblock suggests. But this list does stick to ranking the Dark Lords (and their Domains) by their suggested Monster Manual equivalents. This can provide a basic guideline for which Dark Lords a low-level party could reasonably tackle, and which ones they'd be hard-pressed to defeat.

Note: I assume the Great Brain (Bluetspur) is like an Elder Brain even though the book does not suggest this. Also, I know Alcio Metus isn't actually Darkon's Dark Lord, but she's the strongest warlord there.

Borca: Ivana Boritsi (Spy, CR 1)
Lamordia: Viktra Mordenheim (Spy, CR 1)
Richemulot: Jacqueline Renier (Wererat, CR 2)
Falkovnia: Vladeska Drakov (Knight, CR 3)
Mordent: Wilfred Godefroy (Ghost, CR 4)
Valachan: Chakuna (Weretiger, CR 4)
The Carnival: Isolde and Nepenthe (CR 5)
Dementlieu: Saidra D'Honaire (Wraith, CR 5)
Tepest: Mother Lorinda (Green Hag in Coven, CR 5)
I'Cath: Tsien Chiang (Mage, CR 6)
Hazlan: Hazlik (Archmage, CR 12)
Darkon: Alcio "Baron" Metus (Vampire, CR 13)
Kartakass: Harkon Lukas (Loup Garou, CR 13)
Bluetspur: The Great Brain (Elder Brain, CR 14)
Barovia: Strahd von Zarovich (CR 15)
Har'Akir: Ankhtepot (Mummy Lord, CR 15)
Kalakeri: Ramya Vasavadan (Death Knight, CR 17)

Now, obviously one can do various tweaks and other tricks to make Dark Lords stronger or weaker (have Viktra Mordenheim pilot an Iron Golem mechsuit!) but the CRs are a decent guideline for what levels they expect PCs to tackle each domain. Consider how Curse of Strahd ends at around level 10, and Strahd himself is CR 15; the only domains really optimized for a challenge beyond level 10 are (maybe) Har'Akir and Kalakeri. Most domains are for lever levels, in fact much lower, although Hazlan, Darkon, and Kartakass are still fairly challenging Domains.

Running a full campaign from level 1 to 20 would be very difficult without boosting Dark Lord's stats, or using Domains not given center-stage in this book. That said, there is plenty of material to run a campaign to at least level 12.

 

[overgeeked]

That assumes: 1) the point of any campaign set in Ravenloft is to take out the Dark Lords, and; 2) nothing in the domain has a higher CR than the Dark Lord. I don't see why you'd make either assumption.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

That assumes: 1) the point of any campaign set in Ravenloft is to take out the Dark Lords, and; 2) nothing in the domain has a higher CR than the Dark Lord. I don't see why you'd make either assumption.

I'm not saying you should. What I am saying, is if the characters are at a high level and are much more powerful than the Dark Lord, it's going to be more difficult to strike fear in the PCs. Not impossible, and I think some Domains like Falkovnia are designed to be more scary than the Dark Lord's CR suggests, but CR does provide some guidepost to the difficulty of each Domain.

 

[TheSword]

I'm not saying you should. What I am saying, is if the characters are at a high level and are much more powerful than the Dark Lord, it's going to be more difficult to strike fear in the PCs. Not impossible, and I think some Domains like Falkovnia are designed to be more scary than the Dark Lord's CR suggests, but CR does provide some guidepost to the difficulty of each Domain.

It’s an interesting point.

I certainly don’t intend Darklords to be the BBEG (Big Bad End Guy) of an adventure in each domain. Not in most cases anyway. It should be fairly obvious that the danger of Ivan Boritsi is not his attack and hp. It’s what he put in your dinner two nights ago. Lol

 

[overgeeked]

What I am saying, is if the characters are at a high level and are much more powerful than the Dark Lord, it's going to be more difficult to strike fear in the PCs.

Only if you assume the Dark Lord is the main enemy or the most powerful thing in the domain. There's no reason to make that assumption.

Not impossible, and I think some Domains like Falkovnia are designed to be more scary than the Dark Lord's CR suggests...

I think that equally applies to all Domains. Unless you think a 1st-level party should stroll through any and all opponents in both Borca and Lamordia. Again, there's no reason to make that assumption.

but CR does provide some guidepost to the difficulty of each Domain.

I don't agree. Anything can be in any domain. The Domains are themed by the listed horror genres, but there's no mention of all monsters in a given Domain being CR restricted based on the Dark Lord's stat block. Lamordia is listed as body horror and gothic horror. Body horror lists CRs up to 10. Gothic horror lists CRs up to 13. There's no reason to assume that the Domains are WoW areas with only certain CR monsters.

 

[Maxperson]

I thought that the Dark Lords didn't have stat blocks. Do they expect the DMs to create the Dark Lords at those CRs?

 

[Savage Wombat]

I'm not saying you should. What I am saying, is if the characters are at a high level and are much more powerful than the Dark Lord, it's going to be more difficult to strike fear in the PCs. Not impossible, and I think some Domains like Falkovnia are designed to be more scary than the Dark Lord's CR suggests, but CR does provide some guidepost to the difficulty of each Domain.

I think it was an interesting contribution to the discussion.

 

[overgeeked]

I thought that the Dark Lords didn't have stat blocks. Do they expect the DMs to create the Dark Lords at those CRs?

The book name checks stat blocks to use from the MM with additional powers they have. The CRs in the OP are based on those referenced stat blocks.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

I thought that the Dark Lords didn't have stat blocks. Do they expect the DMs to create the Dark Lords at those CRs?

The Dark Lords don't have their own unique statblocks, however they do state how Dark Lords have similar stats to MM stats.

For example: Chakuna has statistics similar to a weretiger, but her animal and hybrid forms have the appearance of a panther.

 

[Maxperson]

The Dark Lords don't have their own unique statblocks, however they do state how Dark Lords have similar stats to MM stats.

For example: Chakuna has statistics similar to a weretiger, but her animal and hybrid forms have the appearance of a panther.

So to go along with what @overgeeked said, does she also have additional powers to add to the standard Weretiger?